Classmates Josh Shuster ’23 and Jessica Morales ’23 each won gold medals in the men’s epee and women’s saber events respectively as the Judges opened their season at the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference Fall Collegiate Invitational in Northampton, MA. The Judges earned three silvers and one bronze in addition to Shuster and Morales’ gold medals.
Men’s Epee:
After going 4-1 in pool play with an indicator of +13, Shuster was seeded 22nd in the second round. Shuster won the semi-final 15-13, then defeated the 20th seed in the final 15-13. Shuster was the fifth highest-seeded Judge in the elimination round. Rookie Ben Rogak ’23 and veteran Chris Armstrong ’20 were the highest-seeded Judges, placing eighth and ninth respectively. Both went 5-1 in pool play. Rogak and Armstrong met up in the round of 16, where Rogak defeated Armstrong 15-14. Rogak lost to the first seed in the elimination round in the quarterfinal. Adrian Karwowski ’23 and Garrett Tordo ’21 also went 5-1 in pool play. Both fencers won their opening match in the elimination before losing in the round of 32.
Women’s Saber:
The Judges had four finishers in the top 10. Morales and fellow first-year Maggie Shealy ’23 each went 5-0 in pool play and were seeded third and fourth respectively. Morales knocked off Shealy in the final 15-11. Jada Harrison ’22 went 5-1 in pool play and was seeded eighth, while Devon Brown ’21 was seeded tenth after going 4-1 in pool play. Harrison reached the semi-final before losing to the top seed 15-7. Brown lost in the round of 16 to the seventh seed from Vassar 15-11.
Women’s Epee:
Madeleine Vibert ’21 went 4-1 in pool play en route to being seeded 14th. Vibert won her opening match in the elimination round 15-0 and the round of 32 15-3 before losing to the third overall seed in the round of 16.
Men’s Foil:
Captain Ian Quin ’20 won silver while Elliot Siegel ’23 won bronze. Quin went 6-0 in pool play and was seeded second. Quin defeated three of his teammates on his way to the final. Quin defeated teammate Harper Hall ’23 15-3 in the round of 32. Quin then faced Jared Sugarman ’21 in the round of 16, where he won 15-3. Quin defeated Siegel in the semi-final 15-9. Siegel was seeded sixth after going 5-0 in pool play.
Women’s Foil:
Jessica Gets ’20 and Sammy Shortall ’23 both went 5-0 in pool play and each had an indicator of +22. The two faced off in the round of 16 where Gets won 15-6. Gets lost to the top overall seed in the quarterfinal. Gets finished eighth while Shortall finished tenth.
Men’s Saber:
The Judges had their strongest team showing the men’s saber division. The Judges had six of the top 16 finishers, including silver medalist Alexander Holtmann ’21. Holtmann along with Lucas Lin ’22, Charles Catino ’20 and Braden Vaccari ’23 each went 6-0 in pool play. Vaccari was a co-top seed with an indicator of +24. Holtmann, seeded fifth after pool play, defeated Lin in the quarterfinal 15-14. Holtmann lost to the other top seed in the final 15-8. Dexin Huang ’23 and Shawn Pyatetsky ’20 also reached the round of 16.
The Judges will compete in the Northeast Fencing Conference on Nov. 17 in Providence, RI before hosting the Brandeis Invitational on Sunday, Dec. 1.
